Philip K. Dick most iconic idea

[replicant]

Hello,

im working on creating icons for each of the pioneers of sci fi.
I need to find a single image that best represents the innovations of philip k. dick. I need to distill it down to something that can be simply illustrated as an icon.

From what i know about Philip K. Dick's work, the idea of an android and their relationship with other humans as portrayed in "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" and "Blade Runner" stands out as one his most iconic ideas.

What do you think? Any input would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Nick

 

[TheTomG]

Bear in mind that it wasn't about how androids and humans interacted - his idea was to ask "What is human?" And mostly he decided that was empathy and compassion, so, there were some people who were not humans (because they are so cruel, dispassionate, selfish, and have no empathy,) and some androids (or aliens) who were.

His other main theme was "What is real?" This arose both as a philosophical question, as it has for thousands of years, but also a valid practical one in the day and age of media manipulation, and of virtual worlds that grow increasingly real (while the real, due to the manipulation, grows increasingly virtual.)

http://deoxy.org/pkd_how2build.htm for his short speech that pretty much sums up much of what he was interested in.

Personally, I'd go for something with Disneyland and the Abe Lincoln simulacrum

 

[TheTomG]

Just going to add a quote from that speech as one of my favorite things ever written:

"For example, in Disneyland there are fake birds worked by electric motors which emit caws and shrieks as you pass by them. Suppose some night all of us sneaked into the park with real birds and substituted them for the artificial ones. Imagine the horror the Disneyland officials would feel when they discovered the cruel hoax. Real birds! And perhaps someday even real hippos and lions. Consternation. The park being cunningly transmuted from the unreal to the real, by sinister forces. For instance, suppose the Matterhorn turned into a genuine snow-covered mountain? What if the entire place, by a miracle of God's power and wisdom, was changed, in a moment, in the blink of an eye, into something incorruptible? They would have to close down."

Oh, and PKD fans, don't forget the Kickstarter for Radio Free Albemuth, time is running out and it doesn't look on track Looks like only the decidedly unreal Hollywood interpretations of his work are the only ones that will get to see the light of day, where all the subtle and interesting themes of his works are stripped out in favor of explosions, car chases and special effects, and all his "regular joe" characters become typical movie superheroes.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/elizabethkarr/radio-free-albemuth-theatrical-release

 

[J-Sun]

I'd agree with TheTomG on the "what is human" and "what is real" (what is really human?) points but they do seem hard to depict visually. Two of the other elements that really impress me about Dick are the "automation run wild" concept (such as in "Autofac" and many others) and, of course, the very easy-to-visually-depict can of Ubik. Actually, Dick was great for creating all kinds of drugs and products - you could have rows of labelled cans.

And then there's this: the Philip K. Dick android. The pic on that page has PKD and what's real and what's human all in one.

 

[Glisterspeck]

The PKD android was unveiled at NEXTFest 2005, and seeing it really brought home the concept of the Uncanny Valley. (I wish Wired still did the NextFest. There were two in Chicago, and both were a blast.)

TheTomG - I just read that speech. Thanks much for the link! How awesome would it be if that interview taken on the Disney rides still existed. I went looking, but couldn't find it...

 

[replicant]

Thanks for your input TheTomG, J-Sun, and Glisterspeck.

Having not ever read any of his novels, i have a limited perspective of his motif. I kind of misinterpreted Blade Runner when i first saw it. I understand the message of the story now.

Depicting Philip K. Dick visually into an icon is not easy. It doesn't necessarily have to be distilled down to a single object. It could be illustrating something with more detail as long as its easy to make out.

 

[TheTomG]

Ah Ubik, definitely inspriational!

http://2010philipkdickfans.philipkdickfans.com/artwork/ubik_office.htm

I was also asked to spruce up the page here:
http://2010philipkdickfans.philipkdickfans.com/ubikcorp.htm

The images were done, the but the site ceased to be updated so never got used. I kinda like them still

Ubik is a theme I must return to someday.

 

[TheTomG]

BTW these images are all 10 years old or older, so sure look their age. But given the theme of Ubik, that's quite alright, heh. I still really like the version of the Ubik corporate logo, which came from what I remembered the Brasso logo looked like. I always thought many Ubik products might smell of Brasso. No, I don't know why. Just a connection my mind came up with.

 

[Glisterspeck]

Replicant, do you have any of the others finished? It sounds like a cool assignment. Seeing the others might trigger some thoughts for folks. Paranoia is often a theme, but like the others, paranoia doesn't easily reduce to a sign.

 

[replicant]

Hey TheTomG,

Ubik is a good novel to look into. I like the images you created.
Hopefully, they'll provide some inspiration for me.

Hi Glisterspeck,

i don't have any finished yet. Im still conducting preliminary research. Its definitely a fun project to work on. Its tough to represent some of these concepts visually. I was thinking the Philip K. Dick android head could possibly work. It just has to be something that represents PKD well.

 

[hyraxia]

The image that always sticks in my mind is the Black Prison from Valis. I can't really remember the book, but remember that image.

 

[B Bat]

For me, PKD asked the vital questions:
1. What constitutes being human? (What qualities identify a being as qualifying for being considered being human and could machines ever achieve that designation.)

2. What constitutes reality? (How can you ever be certain that what you are experiencing is actually happening as you perceive it?)

3. What is the nature of the universe? (related to question #2)

 

[JoanDrake]

What is reality? This was the central question of Dick's writing and possibly his actual life, (it seems he may have been schizophrenic but doctors disagreed). Do we consist entirely of our memories or is there some central core which remains aloof? If we're just our memories, what is remembering? OTOH, what else is there?

He's one of the few writers I know of who pretty much sticks to one central theme in everything he wrote, examining it from many different angles so it doesn't seem the same, and that was it.

At least that's what Lawrence Sutin seems to say in Divine Invasions, a biography of him

 

[Don]

PKD's "what is real" theme resonates with me. Some of his stories treat my reality's shortfalls in an allegorical manner. It's verges on therapeutic.